Bill Wray

William York Wray (b. March 24, 1956, Fort Meade, Maryland) is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for "Mad" and his contributions to "The Ren & Stimpy Show". [http://lambiek.net/artists/w/wray.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia: Bill Wray] ] He has used the name Bill Wray for his cartoon creations and William Wray for his work as a fine artist.

Wray spent much of his childhood traveling about as an Army brat, reading comic books and watching animated cartoons. At the age of 15, he received training in Newport Beach, California, from a retired Disney animator. He then entered the animation industry, working for a variety of studios, including Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. [http://comics122.blogspot.com/ Novinskie, Charles S. "Bill Wray," "Comics Interview", 1993.] ]

In 1985, he moved to New York, doing comic book work for Marvel and DC Comics, while studying at New York's Art Students League. A phone call from John Kricfalusi sent him back West in the early 1990s to work on "The Ren & Stimpy Show", " [http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/12/05/on-the-11th-day-of-festivus-tv-gave-to-me/ On the 11th day of festivus, TV gave to me] ." "TV Squad" (AOL) ] " [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20688750_ITM Mignola, Mike and others. "Hellboy Junior". "Booklist"] ] [ [http://comics122.blogspot.com/2006/11/bill-wray.html Novinskie, Charles S. "Bill Wray" "Comics Interview", 1993.] ] "Samurai Jack" and other shows. [ [http://monster-shindig.blogspot.com/2007/08/bill-wrays-mad-about-cartoons.html Monster Shindig: Bill Wray] ] His long-run "Monroe" series appeared in more than 100 issues of "Mad", and he has also contributed to Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" series. His cartoon influences include Hank Ketcham, Harvey Kurtzman, Erich Sokol and Wally Wood.

California regionalist paintings

A resident of Sierra Madre, California, Wray is currently concentrating on fine art, doing oil paintings of landscapes, figures and urban settings. A statement by Wray indicates his attitude and approach to his paintings, an attempt to document aspects of urban California that continue to vanish: [ [http://www.fwmagazines.com/product/870/55 Secor, Deborah. "Realism - with Feeling: William Wray captures scenes from a California that's vanishing," "The Artist's Magazine", March, 2008.] ] :The highest compliment I ever received was when a great painter told me my paintings look old. I love the early 20th Century’s art and architecture and work hard to invoke comparisons to that period in my work. I love the idea of capturing what's left of a bygone era; recording it before it’s gone, replaced by a new strip mall. I’ve spent my life studying the artists of that era, reaching for a level of skill and feeling that the modern art world has long dismissed as dull-witted craft. I hope my paintings of these old structures has become less an invocation of nostalgia than an important race to record what is fast disappearing. Every time you find an old factory, a rundown dock or an old shack, a developer is sure to be there trying to convince the city it’s time to renovate. Good for the economy, they say, but bad for the painter looking for interesting subjects to paint. California’s urban pockets of age are disappearing at a record pace, so I have to paint as fast as I can. [ [http://williamwray.com/manifesto.html Wray, William. "Manifesto."] ]

His approach to painting was influenced by Edgar Alwin Payne, Emil Gruppe, J. C. Leyendecker and other artists. [ [http://williamwray.com/ William Wray] ]

A member of Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Oil Painters of America and the California Art Club, Wray has participated in workshops with Ray Roberts, Carolyn Anderson, Matt Smith, Eric Merrill, Frank Serrano and George Strickland, in addition to his long term study with Jove Wang. [http://segilfineart.com/wray/index.htm Segil Fine Art: Meet the Artists: William Wray] ]

Galleries

He is represented by several California galleries: Segil Fine Art (Monrovia), H. J. Higgins (Los Angeles), The Vault (Senora) and Just Looking Gallery (San Louis Obispo).

Book

Wray's book, "Dirty Beauty", a 48-page, full-color hardcover collection of his paintings was published September 17, 2007 by Brandstudio Press. [http://www.brandstudiopress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=58&osCsid=8bad223512a75049f3c54c4594f1b18c Brandstudio Press: "Dirty Beauty" by William Wray] ] [ [http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=446946 Wet Canvas: Review of the "Dirty Beauty" show and book, plus comments.] ]

Awards

*2005: First prize winner in "Art Interview"'s Second International Online Artist Competition. [http://www.art-interview.com/CompetitionWinners/competition_winners-002.html Art Interview's Second International Online Artist Competition] ]
*2005: Second place: 1st Annual 2005 Riverside Plein Air Paint-out
*2006: Artist Choice Award at the SLO Painting Festival

References

External links

* [http://alwiseman.com/2006/08/al-wiseman-appreciation-by-bill-wray.html "Al Wiseman: An Appreciation" by Bill Wray]
* [http://www.bigblownbaby.com/ Big Blown Baby]
* [http://williamwray.blogspot.com/ California Painter William Wray]
* [http://madaboutcartoons.blogspot.com/ Mad About Cartoons]
* [http://segilfineart.com/wray/art.htm Online exhibit: William Wray]